Beyond the Shift
by animewiccan725
Summary: A strange woman claiming to be a Goddess from a long dead civilization appears in Bon Temps, asking Sam to help her save the world. Is she really who she claims to be, or is there something more at work? Nothing yet, but rated T for possible future events. Possible Sam/OC. Not sure yet.
1. Chapter 1

**OMG people I'm alive! :D Yay! Anyway though, I know I seriously need to update my other stories, but this popped into my head and just wouldn't leave until I at least started it, so here it is! Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own _True Blood_ or any characters other than Elsira.**

I walked into the bar. It was a quaint little place called _Merlotte's_, located in the tiny town of Bon Temps, Louisiana. I looked around at the people and the decorations, the entire atmosphere of the place screaming small town.

A pretty, young, red head walked up to me just then and asked, "Table for one?" I nodded at whom I presumed was the hostess as she grabbed a menu and walked over to a booth next to one of the front windows.

"Can I get you something to drink?" she questioned.

I smiled and asked for a glass of iced tea, to which she said she'd be back with in a moment and that my waitress would be right over. I glanced out the window at the number of people who were making their way into the bar from their vehicles before looking back to the already pretty full room.

Within minutes the young hostess was coming back over with a tall glass of iced tea with a lemon wedge stuck onto the side of the glass and an older red haired woman was walking over, whom I again presumed, was my waitress.

"Do you know what you want, or do you need another minute?" she asked sweetly enough, although her voice was tight, almost as if she were worried about something.

"Ah yes actually, I think you can help me. I'm actually here to see Sam Merlotte. He and I go way back." I told her continuing to smile.

The red head got even more jittery. "What exactly do you want with Sam? I don't mean to sound rude or nothing, it's just that the last time a strange lady came around for Sam she damn near killed the whole town. Not that you're strange of course," she said to me trying to recover from the unintended insult, "I just meant a stranger to these parts." She smiled at me weakly.

A small laugh came bubbling up from my throat and my smile grew larger. "Don't worry, it's nothing like that. I was just passing through the town and decided to stop by and see how Sam's been doing since I last saw him."

She seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, despite the fact that she was still tense. "I'll go get him for you." she said as she turned and walked off towards the back.

I looked around the bar once more at the people inhabiting the place. If Sam was anything like his ancestors then these people probably didn't know about his secret. I wondered what most of them would think if they found out what he truly was.

"What do you mean what he truly is?" A pretty blonde asked as she stepped from around the corner of the booth and looked me dead in the face.

I cocked my head at her in surprise. "A telepath...I haven't encountered one of you in centuries." I studied her as she studied me.

"Answer my question. What do you know about Sam?"

She definitely was insistent. _"Well for starters I know a lot more about his gifts than he does. You know, being able to read each others minds makes little conversations like this so much easier."_

"What d-" she paused a moment. _"Can you read my mind?"_

"Why yes, my dear I can." I raised an eyebrow at her and she sat across from me.

"What are you? I mean, you said about not having met another telepath in centuries, so you're not human. But I can hear your thoughts so you aren't a vampire." She seemed genuinely curious.

"Oh my dear girl, you can only read my thoughts because I didn't put up my guard. I wasn't expecting such a surprise as a telepath here in this little town." I told her because it was the truth. Telepath's were a rarity and it wasn't often they just announced their presence. The ability seemed to be dying out over the centuries.

"Arlene said you wanted to see me? What can I help you with?" A tall, rugged looking brunette said as he walked over to the table. He glanced over to the blonde.

"I'll be getting back to work now." A bell dinged and a voice called from the back. "I have an order up anyway." she smiled and waved at me as she stood and headed towards the kitchen.

Sam stared at me as he sat down. "Alright now, Arlene told me that you said you and I go way back, but I don't remember ever seeing you before. Who are you and what the hell do you want?"

I sighed. "Sam, would we be able to talk in your office? It's gonna be a long conversation and we're gonna wanna do it in private."

"Not until you tell me who the hell you are." He looked at me resolutely.

"You sure are a stubborn one." I narrowed my eyes at him. I didn't really want to do this in such a public place, but I didn't have much choice. Reading Sam's mind, I got a layout of where his office was and stood. "ακολουθήστε*" Walking towards the back Sam stood and followed, confusion lighting his eyes. I could see him trying to struggle against the invisible bonds forcing him to move forward but it was fruitless and panic soon joined his confusion.

Once behind the safety of his office door I released a breath and Sam could move again. He backed against the door and stared at me wide-eyed. "What do you want from me? Cause I'll tell you this, whatever it is, you're not taking it from me without a fight. I've killed a maenad before."

I looked at him in distaste. "Yes I'd heard Maryann was here recently. Such a loathsome creature, maenads are..." I took a seat in a chair poised behind the desk that sat against the wall. I looked back to him and spoke again, "Very comfy. Anyway though Sam, believe me if I'd wanted you dead, you would have been a long time ago."

His breathing became marginally easier, but he still didn't let his guard down. Wary this time of what I might be capable of, he asked again. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"I, my dear boy, am Elsira, and I am a Goddess." My tone softened a little. "I also need your help saving this world."

The disbelief in his eyes couldn't have shown any brighter.

***akolouthiste = Greek meaning 'follow'**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own True Blood.**

"A goddess?" Sam asked her.

I nodded.

"And you need my help to save the world?"

I nodded again.

Sam scoffed and pointed at the door as he spoke. "Look lady, I don't know what you're on, or what you're after but you can get out of my bar right now."

"Sam you really don't want me to do this." I told him lowly and shook my head.

"Do what?" Sam questioned. His patience was starting to wear thin, I could tell.

I sighed. "_Nocht et sivum ei wheri._"*

The room went dark and Sam jumped. As a shifter his eyesight was better than normal humans but it still startled him. Good. Maybe he'd actually listen and I told him as much.

"I'm going to show you the beginning. Maybe you'll actually listen." I cleared my throat as I waved my hand. The darkness shifted to show a wasteland. "In the beginning there was no life here on earth. It was a barren wasteland. The land was dry and there was little water. Then one day, creatures came to that wasteland." Tall, thin, gray-skinned creatures walked out of a ship that had landed from the sky. "These creatures were able to cultivate the earth with the little resources that they had on hand. Soon, the earth was a verdant garden flourishing with life." I waved my hand again and the scene shifted to show the creatures tending gardens. "These creatures are what we now call 'faeries' or 'fey'."

Sam looked at me in confusion. "Are you serious?"

I nodded and continued. "One day, one of these creatures grew lonely." Another wave and another scene change. This one of what appeared to be a fey child. "He desperately wanted a friend and as such did what no one else had before. He formed one out of earth and water and breathed life into it. He and the child grew to become close friends." As I talked each new sentence brought on a new scene, the room around us changing as it followed my words. "As they grew older together the being grew lonely in its own sense. So the child, now an adult took the breath from his dear friend causing his 'death'."

"Some friend." Sam commented.

"The fey created two new friends for himself and replaced the breath taken from his old one into the two new ones, splitting his former friends soul in two; a male and a female of what would grow to become a new species. They were also my Mother and Father."

My voice was solemn as I spoke now. "The two beings loved each other as much as they did nature and the fey that had created them. These two beings were endowed with many of the abilities that the fey themselves had; heightened senses – eyesight, smell, taste – fast healing, speed, strength. They lived just as regular fey did. Cultivating the land, making friends, etc. One day they decided that they wanted children as well. The other fey could do it, so why not them as well? The others saw no harm in this. They were their dear and trusted friends, created by one of their own. So they allowed Mother and Father to eventually have three children, two girls and a boy: Chora*`, the elder girl, Dreen*``, the only boy, and myself."

The scene now showed the three of us playing one day with our cousins, children of the fey that had created our parents. I smiled fondly of a time so long ago it couldn't even be measured in years.

Sensing the sadness mixed with such a happy memory, Sam softly asked, "So what happened?"

My smile turned grim. "My brother, Dreen. He fell to the same problem that the others did and he grew lonely. My sister and I had each other, but Dreen? He had only himself. There were no other boys that looked like him and it made him lonely, jealous and bitter. So he created a being that looked like we did – one made of earth, that required water and air to keep it alive and ran on the fire of will. He created the first human. Of course once he'd created one he had to create more. Soon the number of humans rivaled that of the number of fey. Needless to say Mother and Father weren't very happy."

Sam looked at me in curiosity. "Wouldn't they have been able to 'take their breath' like that first one did with his friend?"

I shook my head. "By that point in time my family and I had become our own full-fledged beings with thoughts and wills of our own. We were separate creatures from the Fey and no longer under their control. The humans that were created were the same as we once were – only under my brothers control, and my parents as well since we were loyal to them no matter what."

I turned away from Sam. My voice shook as I spoke. "The Fey weren't happy either. They banished us from their homes. We were forced to move to a place far, far away. A place on the sea that was beautiful but no matter what, would never be able to replace the home we'd once had. Of course, the humans were sent away with us. Eventually they grew wills of their own and while they were not forced to listen to us anymore, because of our enhanced abilities – something my brother was unable to give them – we were elevated to the status of Gods."

Sam stood and grabbed a glass. "Drink?"

"No thank you." I told him.

He nodded as he poured one for himself. "Go on."

I took a deep breath and continued. "Of course after a while my sister and I created some of them ourselves. Subsequently, they thought of us as Gods. We had created them, given them their very lives. Eventually however their wills grew separate from our own. They were now fully independent of us; beings unto themselves free to do what they would – just as we were independent from the Fey. As Gods we had each been assigned to certain things and we took pride in providing a role in them. My Father was considered the God of agriculture since that was the main livelihood. He was the ultimate decider in all actions. My Mother dealt with family matters, both human and animal. Dreen was in charge of death. Chora was charged with the elements – fire, water, air and earth." I stopped to keep my voice from cracking on the thoughts of Chora. My dear sweet sister...

"And you?" Sam asked curiously.

"Me?" I cleared my throat moving memories aside. "I was the Goddess of Life. Charged with bringing all life into existence safely. Of course we all did have other jobs as well."

"That's quite the task." he replied.

I smiled and nodded. "Yes indeed it is."

"'Is'? Don't you mean 'was'?"

I shook my head. "No, I mean 'is'. To this day I still oversee the births of every shifter born around the world."

"Why?" He was truly interested and that was a good thing. I'd need his help if I wanted to save this world.

"Because Sam, all shifters are my children." I was lost in thought for a minute, thinking back to a great war – one that would set all of this in motion...long before any of us would even know it was happening.

Sam looked at me curiously. He raised an eyebrow and cleared his throat bringing me back to reality. "You see, when the humans gained free will and started thinking of us as Gods, they created divisions of themselves. Some worshiped my Father, others my sister. It all depended on what they did to support their family. Eventually temples rose, each populated by priests and priestesses. One day some sort of conflict started between my priests and Chora's. After we settled the matter, the five of us sat down and came to the decision that each of our clergy would have some sort of identifying marker. Father's became deeply tanned, as a sign of working in the fields. Mother's were all women and all had a birthmark over their heart. Chora's became what are now witches – users of the four elements. Dreen's were all men and were warriors. Mine...as Goddess of life mine were tied with **all** life – including nature. And so they became were's."

"Were's? Really? Damn and I thought they'd come from us shifters."

I shook my head and chuckled. "Sorry to burst your bubble. I created were's first. Some of a certain species, others of another species. Unfortunately I discovered that the alteration of their genetic code made them unstable and more animal-like than human and I...removed the issue."

Sam looked at me in disbelief. "You mean you killed them?"

"Yes. I killed them. But not all of them. They were given a choice – either be killed and save their families from any possible danger, or live the rest of their lives in the wild away from all of mankind. Some chose the former, others the latter. That should have been obvious by the fact that there are still were's alive. Once the issue had been resolved with were's I tried shifters. If a person were able to change into any animal rather than just one, it made them a lot more stable – mentally and physically. Of course they still had a slight temper problem but it was better than mauling your 6-year-old daughter because you couldn't control your animal form." I sighed. I forgot how weary bringing up the past could make you.

"Since the advent of shifters I have been there since the very first one was born. Tante^```...she was a gorgeous little girl. Became the youngest priestess I ever had because of her entire lineage. She was the first born shifter while her father was the only one to volunteer to go through the process of becoming a shifter. After everyone saw that he wasn't going to react the way that were's had, things were peaceful for a long, long time."

"So what happened?" Sam poured himself another drink.

"War and genocide are what happened. You see my brother grew greedy. He was always so impatient. Controlling death had twisted him over the years." I looked directly into Sam's eyes. "We draw our powers from those that worship us. Dreen figured this out to be a weakness as well. He wanted more power and so he killed as many of the worshipers of our Mother, Father and Chora as he could. They each slowly died from the lack of prayers made to them." This time I couldn't help it. Tears formed in my eyes and I choked trying to get the words out. "I'm sorry. It's just been so long since I've actually thought about their deaths."

Sam nodded in understanding and after a moment of silence I composed myself and continued. "When they died, their powers were reverted over and divided between the two of us."  
"Why didn't he kill your worshipers too?"

"He tried. And he did get a couple of them, but they were shifters, remember? Once they became animals and mingled with others of that same species he had no way of knowing which animal was a human in disguise and which wasn't. It was their saving grace and mine as well. Once things had calmed down in our citadel my shifters came out of hiding and we launched a retaliation against Dreen to avenge those that had been murdered needlessly. Unfortunately this made us no better than him, but it was what needed to be done. That was the start of the war."

I stood and walked over. "I think I'll take a drink now. Water will be fine for me though." The glass was placed in my hand and I sat back down where I was.

"It was a long war. Lots of people died on both sides. Luckily we'd gotten the average citizens out, at least those that were willing to leave. If I were to translate our way of measuring time into yours the war would have lasted 10 years. For us though it seemed like much longer. Tante was 8 at the time the war began. She'd been a priestess for two years at that point, and even though she was still technically a child she fought with everything that she had."

"Did she live?" Sam questioned.

I smiled. "Oh yes she lived. After everything settled in Atlantis she moved to what would now be called Greece. There she met a man and fell in love. They had a couple of children, three of which were shifters themselves while the other three were normal. They all grew up and had families of their own, and so on and so forth, all the way down through the years...right down to you Sam. It's why I need your help Sam. You have the oldest bloodline there is."

Sam scoffed. "Are you sure about that? Cause I don't really seem to believe it."

I stood and glared at the brunette man in front of me. "You dare question me Sam Merlotte? I oversaw your birth! And your brothers, and your mothers. And her fathers, and his fathers, and his mothers and so and so for all the way back to Tante!" I was practically screaming with rage at the end. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down. I didn't need to draw any attention to the office by shouting. Sam had however, during the course of my voice getting louder started glaring at me and making a growling sound in the back of his throat. "Kroapke!**" He immediately stopped.

"Stop doing that!" he muttered as he lowered his head to stare at the floor.

"Then actually listen to me and let me finish my story." I scolded him. I took a swallow of water and chuckled. "I know how to make you listen."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Sam I'm slowly dying. Just like my parents and sister did." My eyes drifted away again and this time Sam let me float through my memories.

_I walked through the portal from my temple to Fathers. His was simple – made of wood and mud, but very sturdy and extremely large._

_I always loved coming to visit there. It was so warm and earthy. But that day...I knew something was wrong. Everything about the temple felt wrong – it was cold and lifeless._

_Dreen walked out from Father's inner temple, a smug look on his face._

_"Did Father summon you too?" I asked him. He just smirked. My face fell and I ran to the inner sanctum. I dropped to the ground. From that moment on Dreen was no longer my brother. My family laid dead on the steps leading up to Father's throne. The gorgeous seat where he'd sat – the seat of power that was made of fired mud, the first clay that had been made – the place he'd granted wonderful crops to his followers, where he'd punished someone who'd stolen from a neighbor's fields...it was now covered in blood from where the wound had hit him...from where he'd slid off his gorgeous clay throne. Mother's and Chora's blood had dripped down the stairs and had pooled together, mingling in a way that hadn't happened since she'd been in Mother's womb. The tears streamed down my face. I fell to the floor and cried for what felt like hours, but must have only been minutes._

_Finally I stood, rage filling my head and heart. I could still sense Dreen outside in the antechamber. I left what would be my family's tomb and confronted their murderer._

_"Dreen! What did you do!"_

_"Why dear sister, can't you tell? I became more powerful." He raised his hands and summoned a fireball in one and blew a breeze through the room with the other hand. It dawned on me at that moment that I had felt stronger. Their powers were divided between the two of us now._

_"I will make you pay for this. Dearly." He laughed as he transported through the portal to his own temple and closed it on his side so I couldn't follow._

Finally my eyes refocused.

Noticing this, Sam continued the conversation. "What do you mean you're dying?"

I sighed heavily. "When the war was going on, our followers weren't the only ones to fight. Dreen and I would fight each other from time to time as well. On the final day of the battle we had a skirmish and he managed to actually wound me. My blood fell and landed on a soldier who was already dead. One of his soldiers. My blood being blessed with the power to give life to anything, brought the soldier back to life and made him crave the thing that had brought him back: blood.

Dreen caught his soldier and transformed his blood-craving life form into a blood-craving dead man: in essence we had created the first vampire. After a few days he discovered that he could make more vampires by letting the first one feed on living humans. The number of vampires grew. Dreen withdrew from the war so that he could train these creatures.

Millenia pass and I haven't seen or heard hide nor hair from him. Until six months ago when I noticed that the number of vampires being created was increasing exponentially. In addition to that, the number of shifters being born was declining. Mainly because there were more shifters being killed. Over the years shifters haven't been teaching the next generation about me and so their forgetting me altogether."

I lowered my voice to a whisper to keep a tremble from appearing in it. "For the first time Sam since I was born, I'm truly afraid."

Sam looked at me earnestly. He slowly shook his head. "Ok then. What do you need from me?"

**A/N: Pronunciations and Translations for this chapter**

** *Nocht et sivum ei wheri. - Atlantean for 'Let me show you the beginning.'  
**Kroapke - Atlantean for 'silence'  
*`Chora - pronounced 'core-Ah'  
*``Dreen - pronounced 'drEE-an'  
*```Tante - prounounced 'tAWn-tay'**

**Hope you all enjoyed it and stay tuned for more! ~AW**


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